The Fight Between Leon and Reborn
by Phantom Hitman 1412
Summary: A story starring... LEON! Reborn hates Leon. He hates Leon and everything the Chameleon represented. Only cursed Yesterday, Reborn finds out that not only can he not take the pacifier off, but he's also stuck with the Chameleon and the weird things the pacifier is doing to them. So what else is there to do but move on? It was time to become the Greatest Hitman once more.
1. Black Prologue

The fight between Leon and Reborn

**Summary:** Reborn hated Leon. He hated Leon and everything the green Chameleon represented. Yet all Leon wants is to be accepted. So Leon will fight with everything he has to be accepted by his new master. Reborn on the other hand, not only has to deal with seeing that horrible Chemeleon every day, but he also has to get used to his new body. But slowly over time, they become the perfect partners.

_Note: This story is not about the Arcobaleno, just Reborn and Leon, but this is the best place to start._

* * *

So where shall we begin? At the Start or at the End? Well, just like in Romeo and Juliet, everyone knows the ending to this story already. It ends with an adult in a baby's body, ruthlessly training a student with a green chameleon that seems to know his every wish and desire. But the question is: do you know how they got there?

No? Well, let's start where we are supposed to then- the Beginning,

In fact, we're going to start a little earlier than the Beginning…

* * *

Reborn is the world's best Hitman. Fact.

Everyone knew it, everyone feared him because of it. Many challenged him for the spot, but none came near. Reborn was untouchable, unbeatable and unrivalled. He had never failed a mission before, and no one expected him to. And he did it all alone. No back up was needed, they would just be a burden. Just a man and two CZ75 1ST guns. And that was all he needed. No one else, no other object and certainly no other animal.

Rightfully so, when the man with the Iron Mask came to him asking for Reborn to be something called an Arcobaleno, he was suspicious. He had heard of the position before, when he had been reading Vongola history books. It was always connected to the Vongola and another Family only ever referenced as the Mare. No amount of research could find out who they were. If it wasn't for his first-hand knowledge of the Vongola dying will flames, then he would have assumed the man a lunatic and totally ignored him.

But he did know what they were. He'd never used them, nor even knew what flame he had, but he knew they existed and how strong they were. And apparently there was another set, the Mare, out there that were just as strong. He even knew what the man was talking about when he said that Vongola had control over Time, in the form of Generations. Practically no one other than him knew that Nono had met Primo before, during his succession trial. In fact, he had met Primo, very briefly once before. It was during a major crisis for the Family, and Primo was reassuring Nono's Will. Reborn had burst into Nono's office to warn of an attack when he had seen Primo. The blond Boss had nodded at him before disappearing in Flames. He had sworn not to tell anyone about his experience.

So if that was true, then this other information about the Mare controlling Space in the form of Dimensions was most likely true too. And this man in the Iron Mask was asking for him to become part of a team to look after both, to make sure that the balance was kept between them and that the rings were never held by one person or group alone. Vongola rings were to stay Vongola and never be held in Mare hands, and visa-versa. But to maintain control, these people needed to be powerful, hence why he was chosen. These people were the I prescelti sette, and the best people in their chosen field.

But even with all of his knowledge, he was still suspicious. The final straw came in the form of a vision, as mystical as it sounds, that showed him what would happen if the balance was not kept. It was all too real for it to be anything other than the truth, so finally he gave in. Apparently it wouldn't even affect his daily life, he could keep doing what he wanted, and only act if worse came to worse.

Before the man in the iron hat left, he gave the Hitman a piece of paper with a time, place and date for the first group meeting.

He didn't tell anyone what was going on. He liked his secrecy after all, and no one needed to know what was going to happen to him anyway. The location was a mountain side villa hidden by trees in Italy. He sat in those trees for a while before the allotted time watching those who arrived. The first was a woman, clearly pregnant, who was humming a happy tune to herself. After her arrived a man in red, Chinese by the look of it. Reborn could tell this man was trained and deadly, merely by the relaxed aura the man had. No one walked around like that unless they knew that no one could harm them. After him arrived some idiot in leather and a helmet. Reborn really wondered what was wrong with the man. As he walked up to the door, he seemed rather scared and jittery. Yet as the man got to the door, he took a deep breath, slammed the door open and shouted out what seemed to be a threatening introduction and demanded that they all bow before him. Yep, and idiot alright. There had to be something more to the man though for him to even be here in the first place. Next to arrive was what appeared to be a scientist. He was rather sceptical of his surroundings but still entered the house anyway. Next to arrive was someone in robes, their face covered by the hood. There was a pause before the next person arrived. Reborn saw that it was another female, yet from the clothes she wore, she was in the army. COMSUBIN if he remembered correctly. She would be tough then. He could see the outlines of guns under her clothes. She was very wary of her surroundings, looking over them with a trained eye.

So now that everyone else was there, Reborn decides to make his entrance. He'd scouted out the villa earlier and knew that there were no security measures or cameras. He slips silently through the back entrance and through the shadows of the house, towards the only room with the lights on. Back against the wall and in total shadow he listens to the conversations going on inside.

"Would anyone like some tea?" asks one light female voice.

"I would love some, thank you very much" again a light voice, but slightly accented, slightly hesitant Italian. Judging by the accent it was the Chinese man.

"I demand some tea too!" a whiny voice, "ahha… um… please" The idiot once more.

"Can we get on with it; I have some very important work that I'd rather be doing" this voice was deep and slightly snarky, as if he believed he was better than the rest.

"Hmp, I'm losing money just sitting here." Oh, that was interesting. A woman's alto, but deep enough to pass as a high pitched man. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It must have been that person dressed in robes then.

"Shut up. If you're here then at least do a good job or just leave and go home." Her voice was gravely and slightly raw, signs that she shouted a lot. This would be Little Miss Army then.

The first woman, who must have been the pregnant woman, laughs. "We can get started as soon as our shadow joins us." Reborn can hear the sounds of the others stiffening. They all look up to find Reborn lounging against the door frame, gun raised, resting against his cheek yet pointing at the ceiling. "Would you like to sit down?" she asks, gesturing elegantly to the empty chair to her right.

"I'm fine here thanks" he replies, using his other hand to lower his fedora down. The woman shrugs before offering him tea too. "How do I know it's not poisoned?" Reborn is amazed when she just shrugs the comment off with a laugh, not offended at all.

"Now that we are all here, why don't we introduce ourselves? We are going to be working with each other so it's the least we could do. I'll go first. I'm Luce, head of the Giglio Nero Mafia Family." Her, a Mafia Boss? That was interesting. Giglio Nero: Neutral Family, rather peaceful, interested in their turf and their turf only. Nono once said the Family has the uncanny ability to be out of harm's way before it starts.

When no one else goes next, the Chinese man speaks. "I'm Fon, part of a Chinese martial arts Clan." That would explain the peaceful aura; most likely one of those _only fights in defence_ types.

"Gyahahaha-ha-ha. I am the Great Immortal Stuntman Skull!" The idiot stands up and poses, fully expecting them to know who he was. Well, none of them cared. Luce was kind enough to clap though.

"Immortal? Che, I highly doubt that. It's not scientifically possible" scoffs the scientist. When Luce looks expectantly at him, he sighs, just wanting this to be over and done with. "I'm Verde, a scientist and inventor"

Luce moves her gaze along one seat. "You're going to have to pay me to know that information" the woman in robes says. Luce though, just keeps on smiling.

"Either introduce yourself, or I'll do it for you" the woman says, rather threateningly, yet still with a sugar sweet voice and smile.

"Fine. I'm Viper, a Psychic and illusionist" Reborn suspected that the woman meant the Flame type of illusions too rather than the smoke and mirrors kind. Her control over Flames was most likely her reason for being chosen.

When eyes turn to the next woman she answers straight away, knowing there was no getting out of this. "I'm Lal, Leader of COMSUBIN"

And finally, all eyes turn to the man in the doorway. "I'm Reborn, Worlds Greatest Hitman" Ha, you should have seen the Idiots face when Reborn said that. Whilst Reborn was going to give them that, he wasn't going to say anymore. His name and reputation could easily be found out- not that he could be linked to any of the crimes he committed of course.

"Good. Well, it's nice to meet you all. I'm assuming that you all know why you are here?" Says Luce. The others all nod. "We are going to become the next generation of Arcobaleno." She explains. "We are here to keep the balance of the world at peace. Whenever the existence of time and space are threatened, we need to be there to solve the problem, or to watch over those who fix it."

Did this… Luce, know what she sounded like saying something like that? Too bad she really meant it and it was all true. Becoming a Saviour of Time and Space was not a title Reborn expected to ever have, nor to ever say. They all sounded like a gaggle of 7 year olds acting in some play or staring in an anime.

"We are only expected to interfere if things get very bad. In addition, we must keep an eye on the Clam and Sea rings. The Clam rings are currently in the possession of Vongola Mafia Family, and have been ever since the Family came into existence. The Sea Rings are currently in the possession of the Mare Family however they are currently dormant. They have been dormant for quite a few centuries. The Sky Mare ring will awaken once it finds its rightful owner."

"So that man was right? We just appear every now and again? We might never even be needed to do anything?" Asks the Idiot Skull, with some rather useful questions.

"That's right. Everything is business as normal until something happens" Luce replies. She didn't say anything about not being needed though. "However when something does come up, it's top priority"

There is a quiet scoff from the scientist and the psychic at this. Neither seemed the type to drop their work. For Reborn it would depend on what was going on at the time. Knowing him, he'd just finish the work quickly and move on, no problem.

"If there is a summons for Arcobaleno purposes, you must attend." She states firmly. The others just say quiet, not contesting the order. Verbally at least.

They talk for a little longer. "I think that will be sufficient for our first meeting. I'll see you all next time"

What they didn't realise was that two people were watching them and everything they did at this meeting and the ones that would follow. The two watchers didn't confront each other, preferring to stay as far away as possible. One of them was the orchestrator, the man with the iron hat and mask. He watched them and wondered if they were going to be as boring as the last group of Arcobaleno. Then again nothing threatening had happened to force the last generation into action. He had a feeling this time was going to be different. He was more interested in what disability to put on this group this time. For the last Generation, it was to increase their Phobia's and give them new ones. The fear of fire, of being touched, of fighting, of insects, of technology, of the dark, of diseases. He's bestowed these upon each of them and heightened them significantly. He was being rather mean to the Sky Arcobaleno by giving them a fear of flames, since this would include the physical appearance of the Dying Will Flames. And of course, the Sky Arcobaleno still had the shortened life span, that hadn't changed even if the people had.

But what to do this time?

The other watcher was a pawn, a player and piece in the game of the first, one doomed to play for all eternity. However he did have certain perks in return. Immortality was one of them, if it could be called a perk. He also had stronger powers than the rest of them. The only downside to being a pawn was that with each new generation of Arcobaleno, his cursed changed. He would have killed Iron Mask if the man had given him the fear of the Dark. It would have hindered his work. Instead, he had been cursed with the fear of needle, which had affected his work but not as much. He got around that though by giving those jobs to subordinates.

* * *

After a few more meetings the fateful day arrived. That day was eventful even before the 'big event'. For a start, when Luce arrived, it was clear that she had given birth. The baby was not with her though, which was a good thing. The second interesting thing that happened, was that they all found out that someone was crazy enough to love Lal. As they were half way up the mountain, Reborn had had enough of the feeling of being watched- he didn't particularly want anyone to watch whatever ceremony was going to take place either- and decided to speak up. The man who appeared seemed to be following Lal and wanted to take her place. It was clear to everyone that they had feelings for each other, even if both sides pretended otherwise. Lal hid it behind her tough exterior whilst trying to fight blushes at the boys flirting. The boy, who was called Colonnello, must have loved the woman to be willing to swap places with her. It was that or some strange Knight Complex. After a fight, Lal sent the boy away, but Reborn was sure that the boy wouldn't be far away. When Luce looked at the pair, she seemed rather sad, as if knowing that they couldn't be together.

When they arrived at the top of the mountain, Iron Mask was waiting for them, a broad smile on his face. He looked like he was enjoying this, which made Reborn suspicious. What was about to happen that was smile worthy? Iron Mask didn't say anything, no one did. He just turned and walked to the middle where there was a stone podium and a box. Standing behind the box, he spread his arms as if presenting it before flicking one hand to call them forwards. He took the lid off the box and moved backwards , out of the way. The group all formed a circle around the box before peering inside at its contents. They were…

Pacifiers?

What the hell?

From his viewpoint, the eternal player couldn't see what was in the box, but knew what must be in there- their symbols. In that box would be 7 different coloured symbols that identified them as Arcobaleno. He fingered his own one hidden under the swath of cloth he was wearing. He had only looked at it once, before nearly passing out. It was a clear crystal in the shape of a syringe, symbolising his Cursed fear of needles. Each of the previous generation of Arcobaleno had one, in different colours of the rainbow, all in the shape of their Phobias. Iron Mask had found it funny, and used it as a way to remind them of his power over them. However since he couldn't look into the box from here he didn't have a clue to what it was. Although after changing curses this many times, he wasn't really bothered. His subordinates would help him through it; they were made not to judge him.

No one noticed Iron Mask disappear, too focused on the box. Although the Player did see the sarcastic wave in his direction Iron Mask gave him. Luce however, didn't seem confused nor surprised at their shape, and even gave a little smile. Reborn assumed that it was to do with Luce's new-born Aria. Now though, he knows different.

"Well everybody, let's get this started." She says smiling at them all and placing her hand into the large box, hovering over the orange one. Reborn felt a distinct pull towards the yellow one, so hovered his hand over that one. As soon as everyone else had chosen, Luce smiles "Here we go" and grabs her one.

There is a bright blinding light, forcing Reborn to close his eyes, but even then all he can see is white. He hears a laugh, loud, happy and long. Reborn recognises that laugh as the laugh of an ill deserved winner, like someone who had just watched their enemy fall into their trap. A pins and needles type of feeling covers his whole body but the pain escalates. Reborn grits his teeth and bears with it, never shouting out or making any other sound- although he doesn't think he's capable of making a sound at this point.

For a moment, the pain fluctuates, becoming less and the light dims briefly, before coming back full force. Reborn would question that if he could think past the pain. But he can't. And at some point he passes put.

Iron Mask watches on in glee as the ceremony is interrupted; that fool Colonnello pulling Lal away from the box and taking hold of the blue pacifier himself. He's even happier to see that Lal is still affected by his chosen curse too. As the light fades and the New Arcobaleno are presented, he stands in the middle of the unconscious ring and laughs once more, proud over his latest victory. He leaves behind his present for them all before taking the box and leaving them there.

When Reborn wakes up, before he can assess the damage to his body, the first thing he sees is a very large green face and two large eyes, practically an inch away from him.

And that's when the shouts of surprise begin.

* * *

**Right, this chapter was just to lay the foundation and once again, this story is not about the Arcobaleno at all really, just about the relationship between Reborn and Leon, who shall be arriving properly next chapter. Also, I made Luce give birth before this since I don't think it's possible for her to give birth to a healthy baby when she herself is not much larger than said baby. If Aria shrunk too whist in Luce's womb, I don't think she would have grown up correctly. **

**This is roughly based upon the flashbacks in the Arcobaleno Trials Arc. However, since that's in the anime only, I decided to change it. **

**Hope to see you all next chapter. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 25 April 2012**


	2. Green Prologue

**The Fight Between Leon and Reborn**

Chapter 2

Prologue Ver. Green

_The way I plan to do this is to have Leon's chapters in first person and Reborn's in third. That way we can see what each of them thinks better. If after a few chapters you all don't like it, then I can change it, but I'd like to give it a go first._

* * *

I hate this place. I really do. Why they had to take me away from my perfect home in the rain forest I don't know. But I'm so scared. I really want my Mummy, but I don't know where she is. Even my Dad would do. Anyone? Is there anyone that can take me away from here and find her for me? Please, that's all I want, to go back home.

I hate this place. I really do. If taking me away from my family wasn't enough they have to poke me with cold sharp pointy things that hurt. It hurts worse than getting bitten by an ant. Damn creatures. But that's not the worst of it. There's something wrong with me. I can feel the change happening. I'm not really sure when the change started, but I know it was after the huge creatures, I think they call themselves scientists, started biting me with those pointy things. I understand what they are saying; slowly but surely after every bite I understand more and more. And I'm scared by it. They keep on using the word intelligence.

* * *

Quite a few weeks have passed since then and I finally understand everything that's going on around me. The sharp ant bites are called _injections_, which is part of an _experiment_ to increase my _intelligence_ to a level on par with their own. These scientists keep on coming by with numbers and words and pictures, expecting me to show off my new found intelligence.

But I'm not the only one.

I've noticed that they are trying these experiments on a few different animals too. It wasn't long into the process that I could understand them and they could understand me. Apparently that's not supposed to happen in the 'natural' world. I've been here so long that I've almost forgotten what the 'natural' world looks like. But in the same Laboratory- the place where they do all of these tests- there is also a squirrel, a falcon, and a crocodile, which I'm slightly scared of. Even though it's small it still looks like it could eat me. There's also an octopus in a water tank, a monkey and a frog. We are the only ones that have survived the experiments so far. All of the other animals died and were removed.

But like I said, quite a few weeks have passed and then something new happened. The last lot of liquid they injected was a pale grey, this one is a vivid and burning yellow, flickering like flames. I've had first-hand experience with flames, when my old home was destroyed and we had to move. I overheard the scientists talking and this new liquid, which looks terrifying, is called Sun Flames. I don't have a clue what they mean but these Sun Flames have the 'Activation factor'. Activate what? I scuttle back into the corner of the cage I'm in, trying to stay away from the scientist's reaching hand. Flames hurt, they destroy, I'm not letting that liquid anywhere near me. But sadly there isn't enough room in the cage for me to escape and eventually a hand forcefully grabs me and pulls me out. Whilst I squirm in the hands of my captor, another scientist comes and injects me. The moment I feel the cold metal I stop. I've lost, moving now only makes it hurt even more.

I shudder. Nothing could be more painful than this. I scream. I can feel the fire all over my body, moving around, following my blood. I want it out! Get it out of me now! I feel funny, everything is tingling and I don't like the feeling. Mummy, Daddy, help me. Save me. Slowly the feeling sinks in as I absorb whatever these Sun Flames are. The tingling lightens up. They put me back in my cage and it's all I can do to curl up before my eyes shut.

* * *

Slowly the scientists inject me with more and more of these Sun Flames. The others are all having the same experience, but the Flames have different names. Everyone agrees it's the most painful experience they have ever had. They do nothing to numb the pain, the scientists just get on with it, not caring about our screams. Oh God here they come again. Why can't they just leave us alone? What have I done to deserve this? There has to be some way out of this. If I could just escape his hand I'd be free. As he picks me up I think and think. If only I was as small as one of the berries they feed the monkey.

Huh?

What's this feeling?

My whole body is tingling, but it feels good, it feels warm. There's this glowing light that I can't find the source to. In fact, no it can't be... _I'm_ the source of the light? The whole world around me shifts, everything gets bigger. And suddenly I'm sliding out of the man's hand. A quick look in the metal panelling that is all around the room shows me something I can't believe. But I'm sure that what's reflected must be me. I look just like those berries I was thinking about earlier. Although I'm my usual shade of green and I still have my eyes, my nose and my mouth. I hit the floor with a painful smack. But what do I do now? I can't move like this! I need to be back, back as I usually am.

And just like that I am.

The scientists stare at me in shock before they all collectively leap for me. After a long chase I am once again thrown into the cage and locked inside. There are cries of joy and hi-fives going all around. They seem happy. This is what they were trying to do to me? They want me like this! **This** is not normal. **This** is not supposed to happen. But if it can help me to escape then I'll use it. I'll do anything to be free of here.

But sadly the scientists are determined not to lose their success. I'm under constant watch. I tried to escape out of the cage once but they just put me in a different type. This one is all glass, there are no bars to slip through, no lock to be unlocked with a key. I watch the others as the same thing happens to them. One by one, strange occurrences happen to them too. The scientists just get happier and happier.

* * *

With all of us as completed experiments, they did their final tests to record the changes. And then they forgot about us. We were fed less often, given water less often. Within a few weeks, we were all ready to die. Physically I mean. We had accepted death mentally a very long time ago. After all if death was the only way to stop the pain then why not embrace it? Heh, how pathetic is that? That's a human's way of thinking. An animal never gives up, they always search for a way to survive. And I will. I'm going to escape and see my Mummy again. I swear it.

Just as we are all giving up hope, our Saviour arrives.

It is the middle of the night and everything is quiet. The scientists had stopped keeping watch on us long ago, positive that they had enough counter measures to our new powers that we couldn't escape. And just like that he arrives. No alarms went off, and I swear that no doors opened. This man is different. He's not wearing the same clothes the Scientists wear, nor what the civilians wear. He has a mask over his eyes, but not like the scientists sometimes wear. This mask only covers his eyes. He has a heavy hat on that I swear is made from Iron. Finishing off his look is a long trench coat, and a pair of gloves, with matching tie, that had a black and white checked pattern on them.

"What the Estraneo did to you was unfair. To give you powers like this and leave you to die, like a toy a child is finished with. Well little ones, I'm going to give your lives meaning again. You're going to be another piece of my games to make it interesting. I've never given the Arcobaleno partners before. No matter what curse I decide to give them, I'm sure that you'll all add to the enjoyment factor."

Do I care about what he's talking about? No. It just sounds like he's going to give us to someone else. And I'm fine with that. Everything and Anything would be better than this Estraneo Laboratory. At first I thought Estraneo meant scientist since it was often used. "Estraneo are the best… Estraneo will rule the Mafia, no the world… Estraneo's experiments will change the world" But one day when some civilians arrived, I found out that Estraneo didn't mean scientist, they were two different words.

Surely wherever this man takes us, it will be better. There is no pain greater than what they inflicted upon us here. No one could do anything worse. And it meant freedom. So when the man placed his arm in my glass prison I run straight up his arm and into the warmth of his coat. It's so warm, something I haven't felt in a long time. The frog soon joins me, leeching heat from the man. The others either follow him or find places to sit, all willing to take this chance at freedom. No one wants to stay here any longer.

Just like he said, he freed us. He took us to a place where we were warm, where we were fed, where we became happy. At one point, he gives me a yellow rock. I'm not a lot bigger than this rock, but it's very warm. I like this rock. I don't know why, but I feel attracted to this rock. It's not for a long time later that I realise it's the same yellow as the Sun Flames. This Masked man tells me to sleep wrapped around the rock. And I do so, since it's the warmest thing I've ever felt. And not just in a heat sense either, it's warm in a happy sense too.

* * *

There comes a point when we are all recovered and at the peak of health once again. It's then that he takes us for an outing. We are taken to the top of a mountain and hidden behind some rocks and told to be silent. We all follow his order. We hear some people talking. And suddenly there is a very bright light. We are safe from it, hidden as we are. After the light disappears, the Masked Man appears once more and takes us to where there are 8 people unconscious on the ground. He puts us in the middle of the circle of people… and he leaves.

I look at the people around me and my eyes are drawn to one man in particular. For a start he is holding tightly to My yellow rock. It's changed shape but there is no doubting that that is My yellow rock. It's the same colour and I still feel the same attraction to it. This man looks scary, but he looks softer in his sleep. In his other hand is something called a gun. He's in a black suit with an orange shirt and a hat on.

I look around and realise that everyone has picked a particular human to look at. So I take a closer step to mine. I walk closer and closer until I'm right next to his face. I give him a sniff, taking in his sent and remembering it.

And that's when he wakes up.

* * *

So, just to make sure you all get it: Leon was kidnapped from the rain forest and experimented on by the Estraneo Family. The first lot of experiments made him smart in a human sense. This is so he can understand Reborn later on. The second set introduced his body to Sun flames. I think that the Activation factor of the Sun flames causes Leon's unusual transformations. Leon and the rest are saved by Checker Face and brought back to health. They are told to sleep with the 'pacifiers' which are in a different form at the time. It's created a link between him and Reborn, who now holds that 'rock'. This will be explained later on.

The reason I've done it like this is because you never see Adult Reborn with Leon. He always has his two normal guns. Leon only appears with a baby Reborn. So I think it's something he received either during or soon after receiving the curse. In this case, during.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed this introduction to Leon. The 'Fight' shall truly start next chapter. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 27 April 2012**


	3. Black 1: Limitations

_The Fight Between Leon and Reborn_

Black 1: Limitations.

_Sorry for the swearing in this one, but Reborn's in a bad mood._

* * *

Damn that Iron Mask, Damn that Luce, Damn the World to hell and back!

He, the world greatest Hitman, had been reduced to a mere baby! An Infant, for heaven's sakes. How was he supposed to work like this? The only good thing was that at least he could walk back down the hill instead of having to crawl or roll.

_I bet Colonnello's regretting saving Lal now, stupid idiot. _

As you can tell, Reborn's not in the best of moods. And who would be after finding out that you've been reduced to the body of an infant?

"And You!" he shouts, turning around and glaring at his follower. The little green baby chameleon cowers back in fear yet still continues to follow him. "Would you stop following me? I'm not going to keep you!"

However the annoying reptile continues to follow him all the way back home. "I said to stop following me!" he shouts, before picking up a rock and chucking it at the chameleon. The reptile dodges the rock, much to Reborn's annoyance. Didn't help his aim was suddenly off by a mile.

His mood doesn't improve when Reborn gets to his house. For a start, he has to jump up just to push the latch on the gate. Then he finds that he can't reach the key hole to unlock his front door. Great. Just fucking great! But being the resourceful man he is, he clambers up onto the potted plant next to the door. He's shocked at how hard that was, baby muscles are extremely weak. He's very glad that no one was watching him. He didn't think his wounded pride could take anymore falls. Standing on tippi-toes, he can just get the key in the lock, but falls off the plant in the process of pushing the key fully into the hole. Grumbling to himself, he dusts off the scrap of cloth he was wearing- since his highly expensive suit doesn't even fucking fit any more- and clambers up once more. He sits on the side and pants, catching his breath. Babies apparently don't have any stamina either. No wonder they slept so much. Next comes the problem of turning the key. His only option is to push it as far as he can and then jump, using his own weight to push it the rest of the way. Which of course, lands him back on the floor with another trip up Mt. Plant Pot.

Just as he's glaring at the plant pot, dreading the fact he had to climb it once again, the green chameleon once more appears in his vision. Well, it wasn't like the chameleon could tell anybody about this. "What the fuck do you want? Going to laugh at me?" great, he was talking to a chameleon!

The Chameleon shakes his head as if it understood him before turning himself into something Iron Mask had called a ladder. Iron Mask had given the monkey one to use. It had allowed the monkey to climb to high places, which is what this man seemed to be doing.

Reborn stares in shock as the Chameleon glows and changes shape into a ladder, leaning against the plant pot and finishing exactly where he needed to be. He looked around to see if he could spot Viper. Surely this was an illusion. No real chameleon could change shape. He knew from having his own chameleon that they changed colour not shape. Hell, even a child knew that.

"Oi idiot, if you are going to do that then at least lean against the door." Reborn snaps. He doesn't care. It's been a long day, he's dealt with a curse, shrinking and whatever other shit today has thrown at him. He wants nothing more than a long relaxing bath and to fall asleep. Forget the bath, sleep sounded good right now. Amazingly the Chameleon thing followed his order and turned back into an iridescent sphere of glowing goo, rolled over to the door and presented itself as another ladder. This one was longer but thinner. Apparently the Thing had a limit.

Not really trusting the chameleon thing, he first pokes it with a stick. The thing glares back at him, not liking being poked. Slowly, Reborn puts one foot on the Chameleon and then the other, resting all of his weight onto it, to see if it would drop him. Which it didn't. So he started to climb, ready to jump off at any moment if it seemed like the animal was going to drop him. He gets to the top and turns the door handle, and with a great amount of force, pushes the door open. The Chameleon stays where it is, not moving even though it's support of the door is gone. Reborn can feel it shaking with the strain though so he jumps off. He walks inside and shuts the door on whatever that animal was. Sure it helped him, but he has no reason to allow it into his home. He doesn't even know what the thing is.

And he's had enough of trusting things and people. He'd never been very trusting, especially with his past and his line of work. Trust got you killed in the middle of the night, trust got your heart broken and Reborn wasn't going to allow any weakness to bring him down. But he had started to trust again and he curses himself for doing so. He'd started to trust Luce. It was hard not to, she had some sort of weird power to just pull people in. It was the same as the Vongola Nono had. But it was a lot more powerful with her. But she had betrayed them.

"_I knew this was coming, I just hoped that my visions were wrong for once"_

She had known and not bothered to warn them. Some fucking Boss she was. So all in all, there was certainly no room to trust a certain Chameleon shape shifting thing that could possibly kill him in his sleep.

And of course all of the doors in his house were too fucking high. And punching the wall hurt hell of a lot more than it usually did. The stairs were just as bad. But after twenty gruelling minutes, he had finally made it into his bedroom. The bed was taller than he was (since they are in Italy, not Japan). He felt like Alice in Wonderland. Reborn wanted to shout at the world and ask the fucking bitch called Fate what he had done to piss her off so much.

Eventually climbing into the bed, Reborn take in a deep breath to calm himself back down. Closing his eyes, he falls straight into a deep dreamless sleep. He hoped that when he woke up he'd find that this was all a dream. As far as he knew, Dying Will Flames couldn't do this to a person, so he was sure that this wasn't possible. It was just stress after doing all of those really hard missions with the rest of the Arcobaleno.

But when Reborn wakes up the next morning, he finds that Fate is still a Bitch.

And what's worse? The Chameleon thing is curled around his pacifier fast asleep. How the thing even got in the house, Reborn has no clue. But judging by its ability to shape shift, (Which Reborn was sure was an illusion) there were many possibly ways the Thing got in- turning into the house key being the most probable.

"Would you get out of my bed!" Reborn shouts, grabbing the thing by the back of its neck and chucking it across the room. He smiles at the _thunk_ the chameleon makes. However he mysteriously flinches at the pain in his right arm. "Why are you even following me anyway? It's not like I've been nice to you or anything." He knew he was talking to a chameleon and that it wouldn't answer him back, but, hey, he was inside some insane dream anyway where glowing lights caused people to shrink, so what did it matter if he talked to animals too. Hell, it was even going to start talking back to him in a moment.

Reborn tries to remember back to when he had last taken some Drugs. Maybe they were still affecting him from last time? Maybe he ought to kill the dealer for giving him something off.

He is surprised however when the chameleon crawls back onto the bed, surprisingly favouring its right front leg. Reborn hopes that's a coincidence. It sits in front of him before sticking its tongue out and tapping Reborn's pacifier.

"You want this thing?" Reborn asks. He is surprised when the Chameleon definitely nods his head. Seems like in this dream, animals really did understand him. "Fine then, you can have it. It's not like I want to keep the fucking thing."

That pacifier was not something he wanted to keep. Every time he looks at it he can remember Iron Mask's laughter. The pacifier was rubbing his face in the curse and laughing at him. His baby form was enough for him to remember the curse thank you very much. And the World's Greatest Hitman did not wear baby accessories.

So reaching one pathetically small hand up to his chest, he grabs the pacifier and goes to pull it off…

* * *

**And so their fight begins. We are now on the plot, the first two chapters were prologues. **

**That was a good guess in the first chapter- that there were previous generations of Arcobaleno, got the curse bit wrong though, lol. **

**See you next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 28 May 2012**


	4. Green 1: The 'save the world' game

The Fight Between Leon and Reborn

Green 1: Let's play the 'save the world' game!

* * *

Boy, today has been a long day. First the outing with Iron Mask, and then meeting everyone else, and now finally working my way back into the house of the boy who still has My yellow rock. But it seems to be part of their 'Save the World' Game, so maybe I'll allow it for now. The important thing is that I'm still able to curl up around it before I go off to sleep. But yeah, even just remembering today makes me tired… Goodnight…

* * *

***Flashback***

That man has MY Yellow rock, so I'm going to get it back. But he looks rather scary. His eyes are so cold and sharp, it practically stops me in my tracks. These people all wake up and seem rather shocked to be like they are now. I can see the confusion in this man's face as he looks at himself and at those around him. In fact, now that I think about it, they are a lot smaller compared to the Scientists and Iron Mask. Maybe they were children too, just like I am? Maybe they were worried about waking up in a strange place without their parents?

I can sympathise with that.

I knew how scary it was to suddenly be somewhere else without your parents. But at least these children weren't in a laboratory like I was. And because I am sympathetic, I don't want him to feel as scared as I was. I don't want him to go through what I did, all alone. Maybe finding Mummy and Daddy can wait until this boy is feeling better.

The boy gets up and they all crowd around this one woman. We animals come closer, wondering what was going on. The people start shouting, acting like the scientists did when they weren't happy with the lack of results. Were they blaming the girl in the middle for becoming lost?

"I knew this was coming. I just hoped that my Visions were wrong for once" whispers the lady in the middle with a huge puffy hat. I think that hat might make a comfy bed, it certainly looks squishy.

"You knew?" growls the man with my rock. His fists clench and unclench. I take a peek around the man's back to get a look at the other humans circling the lady. All of them looked offended and hurt. They really did blame the lady with the hat for getting them lost. But if she knew this was going to happen, shouldn't she have brought a… oh what's it called, that thing that showed you where you were… Oh, a map. Then they could have gotten back home and to their parents. That reminds me, I'm going to need to find a map to help me get back home too. If I can figure out where I used to live that is.

"I did. This is the Curse of the Arcobaleno. It's something placed on every generation of Arcobaleno." The lady fingers her own orange rock, which I suspect is the Squirrel's orange rock. Why did these humans have our rocks anyway? And what's this about a curse? Did someone cast a spell on them to make them get lost? "This is because we are the Strongest 7 people in the World at the moment. Add in the power these pacifiers hold and that makes us dangerous. _Destroy the world_ dangerous. So there needs to be some kind of limiter on us. And apparently, being turned into infants is his choice this time."

Power? My rock was warm and made me feel good, there was no special powers about it. Maybe these children are playing a game, for there is no way children like us can have enough power to destroy the world. My Dad could send me flying with just a whack of his tail. There is no way I could beat him, let alone destroy the world. It sounds a lot more like a story, or a game they are imagining. But why is MY yellow rock part of their game. Couldn't they find something else to be their symbol of power?

Wow, this is a pretty well thought out game story they have here. Turned into infants… So the evil villain cursed them to become babies so that they couldn't use the power of whatever my rock is supposed to represent, to destroy the world? And that girl with the hat knew it was going to happen but didn't tell them. I wonder why she didn't tell them?

"But if you knew, then why didn't you tell us, kora?" the human who spoke was a blond one sitting on the floor with a blue haired girl sleeping in his lap. I notice that she is the only one that us animals haven't gone to. There weren't enough of us here anyway.

"Because this needs to happen. If we don't become Arcobaleno then the world would fall apart in the future. We wouldn't be there to balance out the power between the Mare and the Clam. Believe me it wasn't a pretty sight." A game! It's certainly a game! I'm liking this story, it sounds like an awesome adventure. I'd like to play too! We get to save the world! And these kids are really into the game, they are so in character, pretending that the world really could end.

I look around at the other animals, the falcon looks up to the game, as do most of the others apart from the crocodile and the frog. Although they don't look opposed to the idea of an adventure role playing game either.

These humans spend a little bit more time talking before they decide to go home for the night. That makes me kind of sad, we hadn't even started the game yet! Maybe they'd all meet up tomorrow to play again? As the boy with my rock turns and walks down the mountain, I follow him. I want my rock back after all.

I keep on following him down the mountain, but at one point he turns around and shouts at me. "And You!" I duck my head at the harsh tone the boy was using. Whenever the scientists had used that tone, it had meant they were angry- the injections had always hurt more. But he still has my rock, so I take a few steps forwards. "Would you stop following me? I'm not going to keep you!"

"Well if you'd give me my rock back then I wouldn't be following you, stupid. I don't want you to keep me, I want to get my rock and take it home with me." I shout at him, stamping my front foot.

It seems he doesn't understand what I say- stupid human can't talk Chameleon- so I continue to follow him. I wanted to make sure he got back safely to his parents anyway. We walk and walk and walk and walk for what seems like forever. The sun reaches its peak and comes back down and we still continue to walk. The mountain changes into some woods and then into grass before changing into what is known as a road. I've never seen one of these in real life before. I like it because it's so warm under my feet. As the sun starts to set I wonder whether we will reach the boy's home soon or not. As the temperature drops I notice him start to shiver since he's only got a brown cape on.

People in the street give us weird looks as we walk down the street but the boy infront of me ignores everyone who tries to talk to him. However, eventually, after god knows how many hours of walking, we turn into a garden. The boy turns around and his eyes lock back onto me and he gives me that scary glare once more. I don't deserve that! I haven't even done anything to him yet. He's the one who has stolen MY Yellow Rock!

"I said to stop following me!" he shouts at me before bending down to pick up a rock. Maybe he doesn't want his parent to see me? Maybe they'd tell him off for having a 'pet'? It's not like I'll be staying long anyway. I just want to make sure that he finds his parents and is safe and sound before taking My yellow rock and leaving. I am really shocked that he goes as far as to chuck a rock at me though. I quickly jump out of the way of the rock, but I needn't have bothered. It didn't even come anywhere close to me. He needs to work on his aim.

I stand outside and watch as the child jumps a few times trying to undo the lock on his gate. Eventually he gets inside and stomps his way over to the door. He stands infront of it and looks up and up before glaring at the door as if it's the door's fault that he can't get into his house. What I wonder is why he doesn't knock on the door, surely his parents are home by now. But instead of knocking for entrance, he walks over to the plant pot and climbs it to stand on the very edge. It takes a few attempts for the boy to get up that high. He doesn't seem to have full control of his body yet. Because he's so young I guess. Making himself as tall as possible, I watch as the boy pushes the key into the lock. However, I feel really sorry for him when he loses his balance and ends up tumbling from the plant pot and landing heavily on the floor. I want to rush over there and help him, but I don't think he wants my help.

I am confused though, when he sits back atop the plant top and glares at his hands. It seems to me that he knows his body can do better than that. He seems really angry with himself. But I don't know why. Most children are happy and smiling all of the time, yet I've never seen him smile once. All I've seen him do is glare in anger at everything. The way he does things doesn't remind me of a child, but more of an adult. I wonder why that is so? I know why I seem like an adult even though I'm still practically a baby- it's because of the experiments the scientists did on me. But surely they haven't done anything to him. No, it's not possible. He's just mature for his age, or I'm reading into things too much. Oh, I know, he's still acting as his character from the game they were playing earlier, that's got to be it.

As the child once more falls off the plant pot and glares up at the climb he must do again, I find I can't bear to watch any longer. I've got to go and help him! So I run over to where he is, standing next to him at the base of the climb. He notices me and turns to shout at me once more. I shake my head in answer to his question- of course I wasn't going to laugh at him, he's been far too pitiful to even laugh at so far- and he give me a weird look as if he wasn't expecting me to answer back. I close my eyes and think of the ladder the monkey had had. That should help him climb to where he needs to be easier.

That warm feeling encompasses me once more, along with the soft iridescent glow. I can feel my body change, shrinking and growing, but it's not a weird feeling, nor a horrible one like I thought it would be. When I open my eyes again, I'm exactly where I hoped I would be. "Oi idiot, if you are going to do that then at least lean against the door." He snaps at me. Oops, I hadn't thought of that. Leaning against the door would be better- he wouldn't fall down to the ground again that way. So complying with his wishes, I close my eyes and roll over to the door before solidifying once again. However I realise that I'm not going to make it up to the door handle. So thinking of what I can do, I decide to make myself thinner but longer. He's only got little feet anyway.

But after I'm kind enough to help him he goes and pokes me with a Stick! The nerve of that child. So I glare right back at him. How dare he poke me with a stick after I offer to help him! I should just leave right now. But I know that I can't. He needs to get back to his parents. I'm going to help him in any way I can. And then! And then! He goes and shuts the door in my face after he's opened it. Seriously, I know he's only a child, but still, there are things called manners you know.

Using my sticky feet I climb up the door and through the letterbox. Even though I could become the house keys, I wouldn't be able to push the door open since it's too heavy. Entering through the letterbox is a lot easier for me. I follow my connection to My Yellow rock and find the boy in the bedroom. However I still haven't seen nor heard his parents. In fact, I haven't seen any children's items around at all; the shoes were all adult sized, as were the coats on the wall. Even this bed and the clothes I can see are adult sized. So where's all of his stuff then?

***end of flashback***

* * *

I love sleeping wrapped around my rock. It's so warm and it makes me feel really good when I wake up. Like I'm recharged! I get the best night's sle-

"Would you get out of my bed!" Suddenly I'm being thrown across the room and slammed into a wall. Huh? What's going on? Ouch, that hurts. What did I do, I was only sleeping. Ouchie, being thrown into a wall is not the best wake-up call I could ask for. Nearly as bad as waking up to find yourself in the middle of an experiment. I stagger and find I can't place a lot of weight onto my front right foot. I think I must have landed badly on it.

However finally he says something useful. Something I can easily answer without words: "Why are you following me?" And whilst it's true that he hasn't been nice to me, I'm sure it's just because he's scared without his parents around. He must be frightened. I know I am without my parents around. I was scared the whole time I was in the Estraneo. I crawl up onto the bed, trying to put as little weight on my front right foot as possible. When I reach the top of the bed, it's to find the boy holding his own right arm as if it hurts him. Strange that. I sit infront of him and use my tongue to tap MY Yellow rock.

He looks at My yellow rock as if it's the source of all evil. Which is weird since it's supposed to be their symbol of power in their 'save the world' game, isn't it?

"You want this thing?" He asks, pointing to it. I nod my head. He seems to understand actions better than words. He really should learn to speak Chameleon, it's not all that hard. However he looks shocked that I nodded back at his question. Well I'm not stupid, thank you very much. "Fine then, you can have it. It's not like I want to keep the fucking thing."

Now I'm confused. Doesn't he need it for his game, or maybe they aren't playing anymore? Well if he's sure, I'm not going to say no. It is MY Yellow rock after all and I want to take it back to the rainforest with me and show Mummy and Daddy it.

I'm really happy when he reaches up to take it off. He grabs it and then…

* * *

**So little cute Leon, being only a baby himself, thinks everyone is playing a game- cute ne? I remember playing games like that myself, amazing what our little minds can come up with.**

**I'm not sure how often Leon's side will mirror Reborn's, not too often I expect, although this chapter filled in gaps that you didn't see in Reborn's concerning the fight the Arcobaleno had with Luce before leaving.**

**Leon will soon understand that this is not a game and that Reborn is an adult. Don't worry, it will get sorted out.**

**Funnily enough I'm going to end this chapter before I get to the good bit. Why? Because this chapter is already long enough for now and I want to start with the good bit so you aren't all confused by what Leon's going on about.**

**See you next time  
**

**Phantom Hitman 1412  
**

**First published 20 June 2012  
**


	5. Black 2: Ownership

The Fight Between Leon and Reborn

Black 2: Ownership.

* * *

Reborn wondered whether his own mind hated him. For in this dream where he had shrunk and was talking to animals that understood him, he could not take the damn pacifier off. Of course he knew this wasn't a dream, and this latest action was a clear slap in the face that shouted _reality_. The second tiny hand (sure baby hands were small anyway but still, how did they cope?) joins its partner in trying to tug the pacifier off. He used all of his new born (ha, yeah right) baby strength. Ah that must be the problem; babies didn't have any strength to start with.

"Oi, Thing" he was not going to give It a name. Thing fitted it fine since it wasn't an ordinary Chameleon- nothing natural turned into a ball of goo and shape shifted, therefore it must be a Thing. "You want it, you pull". The Chameleon seemingly sighs before nodding its head. He wraps his tongue around the Pacifier and pulls. But the pacifier doesn't move. The Thing retracts its tongue and changes form once more. Seeing this reminds Reborn of his first thought of the Chameleon; that it was an illusion. So maybe this was still Viper playing an illusion on him. Sure they had that small fight last time over how to split the money, but Reborn was sure he hadn't done anything bad enough to warrant this.

He looks down when he feels a weight pull on his neck. Looking down, the small Thing has changed into a Weight, hanging itself down from the pacifier. It keeps glowing, and the numbers on the 'weight' keep changing. Slowly Reborn feels the weight get heavier and heavier. Suddenly the weight gets so heavy that he topples forwards and almost smacks his face into the bed. "Hey be careful damn it" The Chameleon untangles itself from the pacifier and squirms out from underneath him.

However try and try as they may, nothing separated Reborn and the pacifier.

_Why won't the fucking thing come off? I don't want it, I don't need to remember it. Can that Iron Masked man do anything more to us? Wasn't forcing us into these bodies enough? I doubt we'll be forgetting him and what he did any time soon. So why can't I take it off? What's the reason behind it? In fact what's the science behind me being unable to take it off? It's not like the chain is infused into my body or anything, it's all loose enough to easily pull over my head. Yet I can't. _

_**I want this damn thing off!**_

Reborn grabs the pacifier in anger and gives it a harsh tug. However pain like an electric shock runs through his body and both he and the Thing scream out. Reborn wouldn't normally scream- he had a very high pain tolerance, but this was so unexpected and so strong that it took him by surprise. Of course he immediately drops the pacifier and the pain ceases the moment he does. He sits there on the bed, counting his breathing to regulate it. The Thing is doing something similar, laying on its side. Slowly they look at each other and just sit there staring at each other and breathing.

What on Earth was that?

However the way they look at each other shows that they don't have a clue. Both sets of eyes traverse their gaze to the pacifier, (looking round and yellow, and oh so innocent) before returning their look to each other. Slowly Reborn reaches his hand back up to the pacifier and gives is another tug- nothing happens. A harder tug and still nothing.

"Hn, Seems like it's not coming off then." Says Reborn lowly.

The chameleon looks up at him in shock and despair. Disbelief fills his yellow eyes. That's before it is replaced by a look of anger and determination. Reborn has seen that look before, only in a few of his opponents. It was a look of not giving up in the face of adversity- Very few people gave him that look since every few people believed they could win against him, if they even got a chance to fight him before he killed them that is. It seems the Thing wanted the Pacifier off of him almost as much as he did. Reborn scrambles backwards in shock when the Thing transforms once more and a pair of scissors aim for his throat. He would have gone for his guns, but they were too large for him to use in a pinch anymore. Instead he rocks backwards, lays flat on the bed and kicks the scissors. However both freeze when contact is made. Reborn because of the warm feeling against his throat and the Thing because of the foot where his stomach roughly is (he surely must still have stomach, even when transformed like this, he still breathed after all). He looks down when he hears the chain jangle from their movements and realised that the Chameleon was aiming for the necklace instead of his throat. The Chameleon is breathing heavily and the anger is still in its eyes. He almost suspected that the Chameleon baby (he knew from experience with pet Chameleons that this one wasn't very old) was throwing a tantrum. Wary of the mood the Thing is in, with a small nod, his foot still planted firmly on the Thing's stomach, he gives permission for the Chameleon to attempt to try and cut the chain.

The Chameleon does so, the look of determination and ownership lighting its eyes. Once more the pain rattles through the both of them. The Chameleon squeaks and returns to its original form, shocked out of the transformation. Reborn himself gasps, but grits his teeth to make sure he didn't shout out like last time. It feels like Lightening is running down every nerve. It feels like his blood is boiling, or maybe that instead of blood he had fire in his veins. He feels like he's burning up from the inside. This time actually hurt more than the last. With trembling fingers and a whole lot of effort, Reborn grabs the Chameleon and pulls it off the Pacifier. As soon as contact is lost, the pain stops.

Both deemed the message clear: The Pacifier was **not** coming off.

It only ever hurt them when they truly and deeply wanted the Pacifier off. Any half-hearted attempts were not punished. It had only been when the pair had acted in anger that the pain had disciplined them. So that was it then. Reborn was stuck with this symbol on display for everyone else to see. This pacifier just proved to everyone how stupid he had been, that Reborn the World Greatest Hitman had been played with and made the fool of. In fact, this Pacifier might as well be a dog collar. It showed that Iron Mask owned him, he played with Reborn's life like it was a toy.

The Orchestrator watches from his vantage point, sat happily on his throne. He smiles at the image he is watching, of the Hitman and the Experimented Chameleon attempting to remove the Pacifier. He knew they weren't going to get anywhere with that. He had made sure that the Protectors couldn't remove the Pacifiers. It could not be broken nor be removed no matter what was done to it. He agrees with the thoughts of the Hitman, in a way he did own them all. Sure he'd dragged them into an unwilling contract, but as long as strong people were protecting the power the Pacifiers had, in whatever form they were in, it didn't matter how he got them there. These Pacifiers had created the World, created and ruled over Time and Space, so he couldn't let them be destroyed. He loved watching the struggles of the Arcobaleno and other humans too much to want them to be destroyed. With a click of his hand he flicks through the images, watching most of the other Arcobaleno trying the same thing with their own pacifiers.

The Eternal Player looks down at his own pacifier and knows from years and years of experience that it's not going to come off. So he doesn't even try. Those around him know this fact to be true too. But just getting a glimpse of him again, watching that man wave sarcastically up at him makes the Flame of Revenge burn brighter. He had even had the rest of his team try and track Iron Mask as he left the Mountain top, but they quickly lost sight of him. As per usual he was untraceable. It was practically impossible to hide from them- he was the only exception. It infuriated him. But this time was going to be different. This time he would break the cycle, stop the game, claim a winner once and for all. And it wasn't going to be Iron Mask.

* * *

**I know this chapter is short, however I want to do the effects the Pacifier has on them one at a time. This is the first one: Not being able to take it off. This is the most obvious, otherwise Reborn would have taken it off already.**

**I am going to keep calling Checker Face Iron Mask, since I started off calling him that. Plus, we all know who I'm talking about anyway. **

**I hope you enjoyed it. Next time we're going to address a limitation the Pacifier places on Leon, poor baby. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 08 July 2012**


	6. Green 2: I can't go home?

The Fight Between Reborn and Leon

Green 2: I can't go home?

No it can't be true. MY yellow rock is stuck onto this baby. It's not coming off no matter how hard we try. Why? It's My yellow Rock after all. Does the rock not want to be mine? Even after I loved it and kept it warm and never harmed it? Does the yellow rock hate me? Or maybe this baby wants to keep it all to himself! Maybe he wants it to be HIS yellow rock! Maybe he's just pretending to be in pain until I leave?

NO. It's MY Yellow Rock and I'm getting it off him if it's the last thing I do.

But my scissors won't cut the chain holding it around his neck. In fact, I just get shocked again. I hate electric shocks, I'd received enough of them in the Estraneo Laboratories. It hurts so badly, but I'm determined to get My Yellow rock back from him. The pain builds and escalates until I lose concentration on my transformation and I return to my original form. Mummy, help me! The baby pushes me away from his neck and the pain stops. Ouch, that hurt more than the first time.

Why? Why won't it come off? I just want to cry. All I want is to go home with My Yellow Rock. What's so bad about that? Does Fate hate me, making me an experiment and then denying me this small wish?

I can't help it when a few tears escape my eyes and before I know it, I'm crying full force. I want to go hoooome!

The baby recoils from me as I start wailing. Before I know it, he's punched me. Shocked, I look up to find him patting his head, the same place he punched me at. "Stop crying idiot. Nothing is going to change because you cry. The noise is annoying me." I suppose he's right, and the tears slow down.

But the question is what to do now? If the rock isn't going to come off without punishing us, then what do I do now? Do I stay here with him and the Yellow Rock, or do I just quit and leave the rock behind? Or maybe, he could come home with me? Although I don't think he would like the Chameleon way of life. Judging by his earlier expedition up Mt. Plant Pot, he can't climb very well and I live on branches most of the time. Nor do humans eat the same meals as me, most recoil from insects. The baby is simply too different from me to be able to survive in the Rainforest successfully. Nor do I think my parents would like him. Their only experience with humans are the ones who burnt down our old home, as well as the ones who kidnapped me. Maybe they'd attack the baby.

Wait, of course I can't take him with me. He's a baby too. He'd want to stay with his parents. How selfish of me. Actually, I wonder when his parents are going to come home? He was left alone last night after all, I thought they wouldn't dare to leave a baby to fend for himself.

A growl fills the room, breaking the silence that had fallen between us. I look around for the source before the baby makes a discontented noise and wiggles to move towards the edge of the bed. I guess it must have come from him then. I'd never heard a human make that noise before. The child carefully jumps off of the bed before walking over to what I believe is known as a wardrobe. He gives one of the doors a kick and it opens. Inside are lots of black suits, and yellow button-up shirts as well as a hanger filled with ties. Right at the far end are a few other clothes, still rather formal but not as full on as the suits were. He climbs into the wardrobe and grabs one of these t-shirts before giving it a harsh tug. The hanger swings and the shirt falls off, only to land and engulf him. The child growls once again, a more tangible noise, one that is made in frustration (I'd heard the Scientists make this noise when experiments weren't going correctly) before throwing the shirt off of himself. He tugs off the brown scrap of cloth he had been wearing ever since I had met him and pulls the t-shirt over his head. It is massive on him, hiding his entire body, arms included, yet somehow the yellow rock remains on the outside. He takes a few steps, tripping over the fabric when he goes to step out of the wardrobe. The boy cannot even catch himself since his arms are loaded down by the swath of cloth. The thud resounds around the room; it sounded like it hurt. In fact, it feels like I've smacked the floor too, my nose hurts so much. I jump off of the bed and go to check on him. I gingerly lick his cheek, trying to see if he was harmed or not. He lifts his head, nose decidedly red but not bleeding, and gives me the coldest death glare I have ever seen. He huffs out a deep breath of air through his nose, sounding a whole lot like a demon. I am truly scared by this child before me. Slowly I back off, not able to break eye contact with him even if it is scaring me. He stands back up and brushes himself off in a slightly jerky manor, as if he's never had to use that gesture before.

He turns around and goes to a different part of the room. I wonder why he is just staring at a blank wall, but then he pushes a chair over to where he was standing. He climbs onto the chair and punches part of the wall. It clicks. Walls did not go click. A square of the wall moves forwards, creating a door. The baby heaves against the door with all of his might, and I can see why when what is behind the wall panel is a huge piece of metal. He jumps into the hole in the wall and disappears from my sight. I climb up the wall using my sticky feet and find he's jumped into a weapon's vault. He's sorting through the weapons there, seemingly looking for something to fit his small size. Wait a second… What baby goes looking for a weapon!? He shouldn't even know the location of a weapon's vault let alone know how to handle each of the weapons there. He takes a holster meant to go around an adult's leg and steps into it, tightening it around his waist, the knife being hidden under the t-shirt he is wearing. Some thin needles also go around his waist, I suspect covered in poison. Seemingly satisfied, he turns around and notices me watching him. I get another glare- not as bad as the first -before he walks past me as if I'm not worth his time. Rather rude if you ask me.

The baby jumps onto the chair and then onto the floor, before walking towards the door and out into the landing. I follow along, wondering where he is going, especially since he's made that weird growling sound without moving his lips again. He has to take the steps one at a time, his legs not long enough to go down one per step. I can see the frustration in his face and he starts muttering to himself. Eventually we get to the ground floor and walk into a kitchen. I think this baby must like glaring at things when he's not happy with them since the fridge gets the same treatment as most of the furniture in the house gets. He inserts his fingers into the rubber lining of the fridge door and pulls it open. Realising he can't reach high enough to get what he wants, he settles for the fruit in the drawer at the bottom. I watch as he turns and stares longingly at a machine on the counter. Leaving the fruit on a chair, he strides (or at least walks purposefully) towards the nearest set of drawers to the machine and pulls the first one open. Standing on it he pulls the next one open and then climbs onto that one. After climbing up the third drawer he arrives at his destination. The look in his eyes is one of relief and adoration. I get the feeling he would hug this machine. It isn't until this machine starts to release a fluid I realise what it is. It's producing coffee. Scientists practically lived on the stuff, especially at night. The baby wraps his hands around the shot mug filled with the black liquid and smiles. He actually smiled for once! I thought he couldn't smile. He drinks the liquid as if it's liquid gold and sighs contentedly before making himself another one.

Now with coffee running through his veins and weapons on his person, the baby suddenly looked a lot more contended and happier, as well as a whole lot more confident. He clambers back down the drawer staircase before climbing up the chair and starting to eat the apple.

"Hmm," the baby says to himself, observing his reflection in a spoon "I still retain my adult teeth, they aren't a baby's." Lifting up his sleeve he observes his left wrist. "And there's a tan line from wearing my watch." He lifts up the rest of the t-shirt to observe his body. "However all of my scars have gone. No bullet wounds or knife markings anywhere. That's strange." He presses a place on his chest, obviously expecting some reaction, like pain, but his expression changes to one of surprise. "They've all been healed. Oh well, I'm not going to miss them." He takes a look at his hands before frowning. "Damn it, fingerprints regrew again, I'll have to take care of that later. But it really does seem like I've been shrunk, with all of my injuries healed. I think heard Nono say something about Sun Flames being able to heal once. Maybe that's what did it?" The baby seems to stop talking to himself and realises that I'm on the table watching him.

"Oi Thing." He says, addressing me, for there isn't anyone else in the house. Really, how rude can this baby get, calling me Thing? "Leave." I stare shocked at him and his abruptness.

"What? You want me to leave? But-but… My yellow… rock?" I start to shout at him before remembering my thought from earlier. Stupid Human doesn't understand a word I say at all, and just keeps on looking at me, expecting obedience. That look, it's one that shows he's used to being followed, the Head Scientist wore it sometimes. I know that he is right, but he didn't need to be so mean about it. I'm just going to have to leave… without My yellow rock. I don't have any other options since it is clear that he doesn't want me here.

I hang my head, before taking a few steps forwards. Standing right at the edge of the table, I extend my tongue and lick My yellow rock goodbye. I'm going to miss it, especially the warmth it gives off. Flicking my tongue out once more, I gently tap him on the cheek. I know we'd only been together for less than a day, yet I still felt close to him, almost like a bond had been formed between us. Before I know it, the baby's hand had moved to his stomach and brushes across it until it reaches his hip.

"Fuck it, I don't have my guns on me" he snarls. So he was reaching for a gun? Even though he is a baby the movement seemed natural, but he'd just forgotten he was wearing different clothing. He seriously is THE weirdest baby I have ever met, maybe even the weirdest human I have met. I take a few steps backwards before scurrying off of the table.

Fine, if he feels that way then I'll just leave. Who'd want to stay in a place where you were targeted and punched and glared at anyway? I've had enough of that at the Laboratories. I'd rather be back with Iron Mask, at least he and his Planner looked after us. Scrambling up the door, I crawl through the letterbox and out of that house.

Although now I realise that I don't have a clue where I am. I don't even know what country I am in. I just know it's too cold and dry to be home. But just standing here isn't going to get me any closer to home. I just need to keep moving forwards.

That's right it's not like me to give up! Just like the baby didn't give up climbing Mt. Plant Pot.

I need to find a map of the area to tell me where I am. Maybe the baby had a map?

I may have to guess where I am based on the languages I see around me. Maybe the baby could have told me that.

The scientists spoke a language called Italian, spoken in a country called Italy. The baby spoke Italian too.

I hope I will be alright out here. I hope the baby is alright too.

That's strange… the farther I get from him the more I think about him. Why would I want to think about someone who was so rude and hit me? No, stop it, focus on getting home.

I keep walking down the street, walking across the grass and trees since its more comfortable than the tarmac. But the more I think about going home, the slower I walk. It gets harder and harder, as if I'm walking through tree sap. I take another step and the pain like thunder hits me once more. God I've had enough of this. Why the pain again? I'm not trying to take My Yellow rock from him! I close my eyes against the pain but all I can see is a picture of his face.

"Now now little-ickle one, hohoho." I'm picked up by gloved hands, ones I recognise, just like his voice. It's Iron Mask's Planner. "Aren't you being Naughty Naughty? Boss gave you to him specifically and you're just going to ruin his hard work? Oh no no no, that's not happening. Boss said to give you a message. Now what did he say… I'm sure I've gotten it written down somewhere." He moves me onto his shoulder as he rolls up his sleeves searching for the message that Iron Mask had given him. This man was always like this and it made me laugh. He's rather fun. "Nope, that's tomorrows shopping list that is that is. Other arm, then… Nope, that's not for you either. Oh deary deary me, where could it have gone? You don't see it do you?" I giggle before licking his shoulder. "Oh, righty- tighty, you've found it. The message he wanted me to tell you was… that you have to stay with the holder of the Sun Pacifier until he no longer holds it. You are to help him in what endeavours he partakes in, especially if he meets up with the other Arcobaleno. Oh, you won't know who they are. If you meet up with the people who are partners with your friends, then make sure to work extra super-duper hard, alrighty-right?" He picks me up and holds me in both of his outstretched hands so we can look face to face. "Don't be sad little-ickle one. This is part of the deal you all made when Boss freed you from that bad bad bad lab. You don't want to let Boss down now do you? Ohhohoho"

No, I remember that night. He's right. I don't want to let my saviour down. "Really? With him?" I whine. Mr Planner laughs- see he's a smart human and actually understands us- before patting me on the head.

"Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but I will anyway" he whispers, a hand to his face in a stage whisper gesture. "The hard bit is over. All the other changes are goodie goodie ones, oh yes they are! Just never stray too far from the Sun Arcobaleno and never try to take the Pacifier off and you'll both be as right as rain. Well then, I wish you lots and lots of luck little-ickle one." I curl up around his hand, clinging on. I don't want to go back. "I'll walk you back. You have wandered rather far from him, especially to provoke the punishment like that, heeheehee."

I sigh in defeat, before crawling up to his shoulder once more. He starts walking and I just sit there, recovering from the shock earlier. "I'm never going to get home, am I?" I ask forlornly.

"There is no need for Dorothy to wish to return home" Okay, I don't get that reference. "Don't you know you have a really important job? Boss entrusted the Sun Pacifier to you. You need to look after it and make sure no one evil gets it." He says in a narrative tone.

"S-s-so you mean we really are playing the 'Save the World' game?" I ask, perking up slightly. The rest of the children were playing a game, saying they needed to protect the power their Rocks had. So those children must be the Arcobaleno Iron Mask was talking about then.

"Oh Ho Ho Ho. A Game Indeed. Oh, Boss would love that! Yes let's call it the 'Save the World' Game! Ahahaha, heeheehee. So you and the Sun Arcobaleno are partners, that's why you need to stick together. You're the hero with super duper cool special powers, and you've got to help your sidekick out!" That sounds Awesome! However suddenly Mr Planner turns slightly sad. "You wouldn't be able to return to Kansas anyway." Kansas? Is that where I live? I've never heard of it. "You're too different now. Do you think your parents would want you back with those powers you have now. You know it's not normal for Chameleons to be able to shape-shift. People would want you for your rarity and you'd be placed back into dark black confinement. You don't want that kind of life, indeedy. Believe me, you'd always be happier where you are now. Boss is goodie goodie great like that. Hey any idea which turning we take here?" I'm shocked out of my thought of returning to confinement when he suddenly changes topics like that.

"Ahaha… actually, I don't. I wasn't concentrating when I was running away." I reply sheepishly. Mr Planner sighs before rolling up his sleeves once more. "I know I had the addresses of each Arcobaleno written down here somewhere." Looking carefully, I spot what look like addresses on his inner elbow and tap it with my tongue. "Ah-ha, there we go-o-hoho. Gotta take a lickity left here we do."

By the time we make it back to the Baby's house, after many wrong turns due to smudged marker, it's night time and the stars are twinkling brightly. I nuzzle my cheek against Mr Planner's before crawling down his body and back into the Baby's house. I guess I get to sleep with my warm and safe Yellow Rock once more after all.

* * *

**Poor Leon, he's got to stay close to Reborn or get shocked again. You hardly see Reborn without Leon, Viper without Fantasma and Verde without Keiman. I'd imagine that the other's animals are about, hence why I made the limit quite large. **

**We've got another change the Pacifier is causing in them next chapter too and it's my favourite one. **

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412.**

**First Published 06 August 2012**


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